Season looking pretty for Bonita pitcher

CHULA VISTA  When Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic were winning their respective high school softball championships last spring, Izzy Ortiz was thinking about graduating from eighth grade.

This week she was focused on silencing Mater Dei bats — and she did.

The freshman completed an impressive stretch for the defending San Diego Section Division II champion Barons, holding the three-time Division IV champion Crusaders to just one run in two games, including Friday’s 4-1 victory at Mater Dei.

“I didn’t expect to be in this position at all,” said Ortiz, who improved to 14-1 on the year. “It took me by surprise.”

Her six-hit complete-game victory came on the heels of her three-hit, 11-0 shutout of the Crusaders on Wednesday.

“Izzy seemed to fall out of heaven for us,” joked Bonita coach John Carlson. “She’s a competitor. Her face hardly changes out there, but you can tell by the way she goes out there and pitches.”

The top-ranked Barons (18-4-1 overall, 8-0 Mesa League) got Ortiz all the runs she would need in the first inning.

Table-setters Hannah Flippen and Ashley Quidolit led off with a pair of hits. Alex Vargas, who smashed a first-inning grand slam Wednesday, drove in Flippen on a fielder’s choice. Quidolit and Vargas scored on a single by Aaliyah Jordan for a 3-0 lead.

The fourth-ranked Crusaders (20-6, 5-3) would finally get on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Kimberly Tamayo drove in Skania Lemus.

The Barons answered back on a double by Brittany Wyllie and an RBI single by Quidolit.